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News August 2015

Steph through to the final

Steph Twell (handicap -2.0) battled hot and humid conditions on day six of the IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China, to qualify for the 5000m final. The temperature clearly took its toll on a number of athletes, who dropped out during the opening round, but Twell came through to finish seventh in the first heat. The 26 year old crossed the line in 15:34.72 and to secure her place in Sunday’s showdown.

Twell, who was only one of three Europeans to qualify for the final said: “I’ve been watching the track like a hawk. It’s so hot out there, I can’t tell you. Your legs feel good, but your throat is so dry. It’s been different to the humidity I’ve been training in and you can see that people were dropping like flies. It was even tougher 10 minutes later (in the second heat). I’m just so grateful I’ve worked hard to get here and now I can relax. I think I’ve needed to get a race out of my legs and just run."

Charlie Grice (handicap -6.1) and Chris O’Hare (handicap -5.9) were also successful in their quest for semi-final berths, with mature performances in the opening round of the 1500m. Grice came through in fourth in heat one clocking 3:43.21, while O’Hare was a place further back in the quicker third heat where he crossed in 3:38.43.

“I’m really happy to make it through as an automatic qualifier, because I nearly went down again on the back straight. There were a lot of guys around me who slowed, so just very happy to pull through,” said Grice.

“I really squeezed through people, I got a big push and nearly went down. I’ve been working on my speed, and I knew it’s been going well in training, so I just knew I had to put myself in the right position.”

British Athletics medals at the IAAF World Championships, Beijing, China